Death and Regenesis
by M.L. Shards
Summary: Eric reflects on the worst day of his life, the loss of one red ranger, and the birth of a new one.


Me + Spare at school + writer's block for _Line of Fire _EQUALS ...This :D

It's a one shot...unless people really want it to go on, then I might add something else to it, but maybe not...whatever.

Anyhoom reviews are my life...and might make me actually write that SPD story that's been floating around in my head since July.

Please note that my knowledge of Time Force is slightly limited.

* * *

The day Wes Collins died was the worst day of my life. 

I remember it like it had only happened yesterday, but in reality it's been years and years since that fateful day.

After Jen, Trip, Lucas, Katie, and Circuit had left for home, Wes joined the Silver Guardians like he'd said he would. We used the Quantum and Time Force powers to aid in the protection of the city, like we had before the others left. But even then I knew something was different about my friend… very different.

He wasn't as outgoing as he had been before…I think he missed Jen. Sure, he had the odd word with her here and there via time communication, and when the Wild Force rangers and the Silver Guardians needed them, the Time Force briefly returned as our "reinforcements from the future." But he was never really the same.

He needed a goal that was more focused than just "protecting the city" and one day during an "everyday" talk with Trip he discovered it.

Trip had mentioned that the actual organization that eventually evolved into Time Force was created in the early 2000's, a passing comment that got Wes very curious. He interrogated the young alien about everything he knew. What it was called, where it began, what the uniforms looked like…everything. Trip told him and Wes took the information using it as the basis of drastic changes he attempted to make to the Silver Guardians.

First he wanted to change the name. He wanted a more "police sounding" name, complaining that though Silver Guardians sounded pretty neat, it also sounded like a science fiction show. Something that would scare away the type of people we wanted to work for them.

I argued saying that it made no sense to change the name. Everyone knew who the Silver Guardians were, ever since their first appearance they'd been in the news on a regular basis. Now, they were especially popular that they had numerous (well…two) Power Rangers working on their team. The name didn't sound too "science fiction" to alienate possible candidates for jobs. It was like if the Beatles had changed their name…everyone still knew who they were and would remember them as the Beatles.

But no…

That wasn't good enough.

After years of working side by side, Wes took his "radical" ideas and left the Guardians, determined to create the organization that would later on form S.P.D…the organization that eventually evolved into Time Force.

In trying to be inconspicuous in his questioning of Trip, he'd somehow forgotten to ask what the heck S.P.D. actually stood for. He ended coming up with "Special Patrol Detectives". Even he admitted it wasn't a really good name, but it had the right initials so it must work, right?

Whatever

He offered a bunch of scientists a pay raise if they came over to the "Special Patrol Detective"…Ugh! I still hate that name. Anyway, one of them was a young woman named Philene… uh no…that wasn't it…Feline? Definitely not…Filliane? Okay…fine, I don't remember her name, but her last name was Tate anyways.

She was tall, slim, with brown hair that seemed perpetually stuck in the eighties even though it was the two thousands. She was smart and sweet, and Wes fell for her…hard.

He'd never admit it, but it wasn't because she was smart and sweet…it was because she looked so much like Jen.

When the first migration of aliens came to Earth (much to the surprise of everyone in the whole WORLD), with them arrived a Doctor Katherine Manx. A feline resembling woman, with a brain filled with more knowledge than the average super genius could hope for.

Before I could blink she was snapped up by Wes, before he even read her resume…I think something Trip had said had something to do with it, because while everyone else was still struggling with the idea of their even being aliens, Wes was hiring them as though it was an average, everyday thing.

It wasn't long after that there was the accident in the lab.

The "S.P.D." lab was dealing with technology from a thousand years in the future, so it wasn't a huge surprise to hear there was an accident in the lab…it really wasn't…but Wes was really shook up about it. He called me for the first time in almost a year, sobbing on the phone about what had happened a few days later. We talked everyday face to face since he started "S.P.D.", but it hadn't always been friendly and it hadn't always been about anything other than work.

I didn't understand why he was so upset…I actually had no clue. No one was injured by the radiation. Everyone had walked away from the lab slightly disoriented but otherwise fine…at least, that's what I had heard.

Of course after that…Philene?... no! Phyllis! That was her name! Well…she took a lot of time off, complaining she was feeling sick. It was what Wes had been all worked up about. His "girlfriend" hadn't been feeling good after the accident and it worried him.

I know this because every time I went to talk to Wes, she wasn't there. And a few times I saw her when the Guardians were called into action, just walking down the street, wearing clothes that were too big for her.

To put it bluntly, she looked like a mess.

But she didn't know me, and I didn't know her, so I never asked her if anything was wrong. But I eventually did find out what had caused her to look as though she wasn't working for Wesley Collins and instead a beggar on the street…

I found out…eight months later.

In a delivery room…with Wes…at midnight… having been called by a frantic Collins who had his car in the shop and decided I was a better person to call than a cab company even though we hadn't been on great terms lately...Can you say awkward?

"Philly, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Wes sighed as the young woman sat holding a little bundle of joy in her arms that seemed quite content on staying where he was.

"I-I-I didn't know what you'd say," she sniffed as tears rolled down her face.

"Oh Philly," Wes sighed, and suddenly I felt horribly out of place…

"So…what's his name?" I asked, trying to bring some attention to the fact that I of course hadn't disappeared and was in fact, still in the room.

The two of them stared at me…yup…they'd definitely forgotten I was in the room.

"Uh…" Phyllis began then looked down at the little boy, "I haven't really got that far…I was thinking Max, but maybe," she hesitated slightly "daddy would like to name him?"

Wes's eyes went wide; it hadn't really hit him yet. He had a son.

If I hadn't been running on a handful of Smarties I'd grabbed in an attempt to wake myself up as I drove to Wes's house, I might have actually laughed at the look on his face. But since I was, all I managed was a half smile, half yawn.

"I-I've got no clue…uh…Eric? Any suggestions?"

Oh great…putting me on the spot. Thinking as fast as I could on sleep deprivation I immediately came up with my grandfather's name "George?"

They both gave me strange looks, before saying they'd think about it and then moving the conversation along. I had a feeling I was no longer welcome, not because it was a bad name, just that they had things to talk about…and that was fine by me. I went to the waiting room and fell asleep on one of the chairs.

Anyways I am way off from where I'd started…

It was years later that the event of which I started talking about actually happened.

Much to my surprise S.P.D became a huge success. The scientists had discovered a way to work out morphers for their officers and planets all over the galaxy began having branches of S.P.D…it was everywhere! People from all over were signing up for the small chance to become a police ranger.

Eventually the Silver Guardians and S.P.D. started working together more often, and Wes even offered me a job as the Commander of Earth Base while he was off being the "Supreme Commander" he was. Eventually the job went to someone else when I decided to stick with the Guardians.

There was Wes, the red Time Force ranger leading the S.P.D. Everything was great, with "puppy dogs" and "rainbows"…

Until Mirloc

Mirloc…now he changed everything.

Mirloc was the perfect name for him, able to appear and get around only using reflective surfaces, and able to trap others in them. I heard he escaped not that long ago…luckily the current rangers took care of him. Yet years ago he was an intergalactic criminal, bringing his special brand of trouble to Earth…just for us.

And of course just to make things worse… in time for "Wes Jr's" (as I'd taken to calling him) birthday party. I happened to be in attendance since the little guy had started calling me "Uncle Eric" and really felt strongly that I needed to be there for things to be right.

When he appeared in Wes's water glass in the middle of it, he bolted off after giving Phyllis a quick peck on the cheek and ruffling up "Wes Jr's" hair. They never ended up getting married, and the little guy ended up being given his mother's maiden name, but they still acted much closer than most families do. I know for a fact Wes adored the little guy and he adored Wes.

With a promise to come back soon, Wes ran off and waved for me to come along too.

I don't need to say how the confrontation went…it's obvious that it didn't go well. I ended up in hospital with a concussion and a broken arm…and…well…

The blue ranger, an alien with a dog like design to him managed to get away with only a few scratches, (Wes had always said he was one of the best fighters he'd ever seen) while the yellow ranger had broken her arm in two places. The green ranger had a large gash across his forehead and the pink ranger ended up having her wrist in a cast…but a few months later they were up and running again.

The blue ranger eventually brought Mirloc in a few weeks later using some of Wes's data from reports he'd gathered and read…but of course I've failed to mention what happened to Wes…I cannot drag it out when I break the bad news…

He died.

He was gone.

And he left a girlfriend and little boy…just like that.

They came to visit me in the hospital, a little "Wes Jr" carrying his father's Time Force helmet, chipping away at some dirt that had gotten stuck to the black visor with his nail. It was supposed to be his special day…his father had given him an un-programmed morpher for him to play with. All the other kids had been very jealous, but now it didn't matter.

He looked so sad; tears welled up in his blue eyes as he held the helmet tight. Phyllis had red eyes but seemed to be trying to keep it together for her son's sake.

"Where's Daddy, Uncle Eric?" the little boy sniffled, "They said he left us, where'd he go? Did I make him mad? Did he leave because of me?"

I wanted to say something reassuring, but emotional words were never really my thing, instead Phyllis stepped in.

"Honey, it wasn't your fault…"

That kid needed me to say something, and I couldn't. My best friend was dead, and I couldn't do anything. If that wasn't the worst day of my life, heck, anyone's life, I feel damn sorry for the contender against me.

The boy nodded, but after that he was never the same.

That was fourteen years ago…

Today "Wes Jr." came to visit me. But he's an adult now, so I guess he's not really a "Jr."…nor was his name ever actually Wes in the first place.

I greeted him, barely recognizing him for the last time I'd seen him which had been over three years ago when he'd decided he wanted to "follow in his father's footsteps" much to the dismay of his mother.

He said he just got promoted…


End file.
